Growth Forces Talk Of County Office Towers

Osceola Officials Visualize High-rises, But Some Offices First May Spread Tentacle-fashion Across A Broad Area.

April 4, 1993|By Annie Tin Of The Sentinel Staff

KISSIMMEE — Osceola County's government center near downtown Kissimmee could be dotted with six-story office towers during the next decade.

Commissioners soon will be faced with that option, among others, as a way to handle growth.

If they don't start exploring ideas, calculating costs, and considering potential locations for expansion, they could be hit with a logistical nightmare that would create a massive gridlock of county services and uncomfortable working conditions for a growing number of county employees.

''We know that with the growth of this county, we're going to have to start talking about ideas,'' said County Commission Chairman Larry Whaley. ''If we don't, we're going to find ourselves without any space or money to pay for what we want to do.''

Steve Greenwood, a county financial analyst who was busy crunching projected costs recently, knows just how difficult it's been to find space for new employees. He hears it from the department heads who request office equipment, room dividers and file cabinets.

''Right now we're squeezed to the max,'' Greenwood said. ''It's a crisis when somebody hires somebody because you don't know where to put them.''

The county already spends about $8,000 a month - that's $96,000 a year - renting space in warehouses all over Osceola. The space is used to store old records, documents and files.

A preliminary financial plan shows that about $14.7 million in sales taxes would need to be set aside over a period of six years beginning in 1994 to pay the costs.

The following is a sampling of the ideas commissioners are considering.

Option 1

Constructing a six-level courthouse and county office complex with 108,000 square feet of space.

This $12.8 million alternative would be a tower-like structure built next to the existing county administration building on South Vernon Avenue.

It would mean the adjoining parking lot and one-story building - which houses the personnel, purchasing and management and budget offices - would need to be demolished.

This option would cost the least to build because it doesn't require buying additional land.

The major drawback, however, is that it doesn't include any parking facilities. Parking already is at a premium for jurors, the public and more than 600 employees who work in the main administration and courthouse buildings near downtown Kissimmee.

With a larger complex, this option would not be picked unless parking was included.

Option 2

Constructing two six-level buildings - each with the bottom three levels dedicated for parking.

One building, with 54,000 square feet of office space, would serve as a judicial services center where the Clerk of Courts' traffic, passports, civil and criminal offices would be located. The building would be constructed on the Bryan Street parking lot behind the old courthouse.

The second building, also with 54,000 square feet and three parking floors, would be used for county offices and be erected on the parking lot next to the county administration building.

While this $14.8 million option is more expensive than Option 1, it would buy the exact amount of needed office space and include parking - a critical requirement missing in Option 1.

A disadvantage for this option is that the county would have to buy some land.

Option 3

Constructing a six-level judicial services building, again with the bottom three levels set aside for parking. This option would also involve adding two new floors to the existing two-story county administration building.

Of all the ideas being considered, this one is the costliest, ringing in at $19.3 million.

''It's definitely the least attractive,'' said county budget director John Ford.

In addition, the noise and hassle of construction would interrupt the public and employees using the building more than any other option.

Other small-scale remedies

- As part of a settlement agreement with the owners of an office complex off Pleasant Hill Road, commissioners agreed to buy the Oakbridge Center for $710,000 last week.

Development Director Larry O'Dell said the county is considering several ideas, which include storing records for the Clerk of Court and a Sheriff's Office substation.

''We're not going to let it sit idle. We'll use it for something,'' O'Dell said.

- The county is talking about buying the old armory building on Central Avenue to house all health, welfare, and human service programs in one building.

- On Monday, commissioners will consider a request to buy the SunBank building on Indiana Avenue in St. Cloud for $750,000. They plan to use the 16,000-square-foot building as a library and lease about 2,000 square feet back to SunBank.

The county will move out of the library on 10th Street in downtown St. Cloud when the lease expires this summer, said County Commissioner Chuck Dunnick.

Greenwood, referring to the county's plans to push forward, said, ''When you build a facility, it takes three or four years to build it. We're only at a conceptual stage right now.''